Dismantling AI Capitalism: The Commons as an Alternative to the Power Concentration of Big Tech

Verdegem, P. 2022. Dismantling AI Capitalism: The Commons as an Alternative to the Power Concentration of Big Tech. AI & Society. 39, p. 727–737. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-022-01437-8

TitleDismantling AI Capitalism: The Commons as an Alternative to the Power Concentration of Big Tech
TypeJournal article
AuthorsVerdegem, P.
Abstract

This article discusses the political economy of AI capitalism. It considers AI as a General Purpose Technology (GPT) and argues we need to investigate the power concentration of Big Tech. AI capitalism is characterised by the commodification of data, data extraction and a concentration in hiring of AI talent and compute capacity. This is behind Big Tech’s unstoppable drive for growth, which leads to monopolisation and enclosure under the winner takes all principle. If we consider AI as a GPT – technologies that alter society’s economic and social structures – we need to come up with alternatives in terms of ownership and governance. The commons is proposed as an alternative for thinking about how to organise AI development and how to distribute the value that can be derived from it. Using the commons framework is also a way of giving society a more prominent role in the debate about what we expect from AI and how we should approach it.

KeywordsArtificial Intelligence (AI)
AI Capitalism
Political Economy
Commodification
Extraction
Commons
JournalAI & Society
Journal citation39, p. 727–737
ISSN0951-5666
1435-5655
Year2022
PublisherSpringer
Publisher's version
License
CC BY 4.0
File Access Level
Open (open metadata and files)
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-022-01437-8
Web address (URL)https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00146-022-01437-8
Publication dates
Published online09 Apr 2022
Published09 Apr 2022
Supplemental file
File Access Level
Open (open metadata and files)

Related outputs

Pesquisa-Ação Participativa em Estudos Críticos de Dados: Interrogando a IA a partir de uma Abordagem Sul-Norte
Andrea Medrado and Pieter Verdegem 2024. Pesquisa-Ação Participativa em Estudos Críticos de Dados: Interrogando a IA a partir de uma Abordagem Sul-Norte. Revista Mídia e Cotidiano. 18 (2), pp. 109-139. https://doi.org/10.22409/rmc.v18i2.63054

Participatory Action Research in Critical Data Studies: Interrogating AI from a South-North Approach
Medrado, A. and Verdegem, P. 2024. Participatory Action Research in Critical Data Studies: Interrogating AI from a South-North Approach. Big Data & Society. 11 (1), pp. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517241235869

AI for Social Good? Inspirations from Participatory Action Research (PAR) to Critical Data Studies
Medrado, A. and Verdegem, P. 2024. AI for Social Good? Inspirations from Participatory Action Research (PAR) to Critical Data Studies. London University of Westminster.

Critical AI Studies Meets Critical Political Economy
Verdegem, P. 2023. Critical AI Studies Meets Critical Political Economy. in: Lindgren, S. (ed.) Handbook of Critical Studies of Artificial Intelligence Cheltenham Edgar Elgar Publishing.

What We Think We Know About Cybersecurity: An Investigation of the Relationship between Perceived Knowledge, Internet Trust, and Protection Motivation in a Cybercrime Context
De Kimpe, L., Walrave, M., Verdegem, P. and Ponnet, K. 2022. What We Think We Know About Cybersecurity: An Investigation of the Relationship between Perceived Knowledge, Internet Trust, and Protection Motivation in a Cybercrime Context. Behaviour & Information Technology. 4 (8), pp. 1796-1808. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2021.1905066

Social Media Industries and the Rise of the Platform
Verdegem, P. 2022. Social Media Industries and the Rise of the Platform. in: McDonald, P. (ed.) The Routledge Companion to Media Industries Routledge.

AI for Everyone? Critical Perspectives
Verdegem, P., Kaplan, A., Hofkirchner, W., Ng, J., McQuillan, D., Rehak, R., Daly, A., Devit, S.K., Mann, M., Steinhoff, J., Brevini, B., Akdag Salah, A.A., O’Connell, C., Van de Wiele, C., Prodnik, J.A., Babu, A., Shahin, S., Grohmann, R., Araújo, W.F. and Dencik, L. Verdegem, P. (ed.) 2021. AI for Everyone? Critical Perspectives. London University of Westminster Press.

Digital capitalism: Defining the crisis and exploring the alternatives
Verdegem, P. 2019. Digital capitalism: Defining the crisis and exploring the alternatives. Media Culture and Society. 41 (3), pp. 407-413. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443717737615

Social Media Logic and Its Impact on Political Communication During Election Times
Verdegem, P. and D'heer, E. 2018. Social Media Logic and Its Impact on Political Communication During Election Times. in: Schwanholz, J., Graham, T.S. and Stoll, P.-T. (ed.) Managing Democracy in the Digital Age: Internet Regulation, Social Media Use, and Online Civic Engagement Springer. pp. 119-135

Media coverage of an election campaign on Twitter. The case of Belgium in the EU elections
D'heer, E. and Verdegem, P. 2017. Media coverage of an election campaign on Twitter. The case of Belgium in the EU elections. in: Davis, R., Holtz-Bacha, C. and Just, M.R. (ed.) Twitter and Elections around the World: Campaigning in 140 Characters or Less London Routledge. pp. 57-71

What are we missing? An empirical exploration in the structural biases of hashtag-based sampling on Twitter
D'heer, E., Vandersmissen, B., De Neve, W., Verdegem, P. and Van de Walle, R. 2017. What are we missing? An empirical exploration in the structural biases of hashtag-based sampling on Twitter. First Monday. 22 (2). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v22i2

@THEVIEWER: Analyzing the offline and online impact of a dedicated conversation manager in the newsroom of a public broadcaster
D'heer, E. and Verdegem, P. 2016. @THEVIEWER: Analyzing the offline and online impact of a dedicated conversation manager in the newsroom of a public broadcaster. New Media & Society. 18 (10), pp. 2287-2304. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444815583462

With a little help from my friends: An analysis of the role of social support in digital inequalities
Courtois, C. and Verdegem, P. 2016. With a little help from my friends: An analysis of the role of social support in digital inequalities. New Media & Society. 18 (8), pp. 1508-1527. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444814562162

De impact van ouderschapsstijlen op de ontwikkeling van sociale mediageletterdheid bij adolescenten
Vanwynsberghe, H., Boudry, E. and Verdegem, P. 2015. De impact van ouderschapsstijlen op de ontwikkeling van sociale mediageletterdheid bij adolescenten. Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap. 43 (1), pp. 84-100.

What social media data mean for audience studies: a multidimensional investigation of Twitter use during a current affairs TV programme
D'heer, E. and Verdegem, P. 2015. What social media data mean for audience studies: a multidimensional investigation of Twitter use during a current affairs TV programme. Information, Communication & Society. 18 (2), pp. 221-234. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2014.952318

The librarian 2.0: Identifying a typology of librarians’ social media literacy
Vanwynsberghe, H., Vanderlinde, R., Georges, A. and Verdegem, P. 2015. The librarian 2.0: Identifying a typology of librarians’ social media literacy. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science. 47 (4), pp. 283-293. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961000613520027

An intermedia understanding of the networked Twitter ecology. The 2012 Local Elections in Belgium
D'heer, E. and Verdegem, P. 2014. An intermedia understanding of the networked Twitter ecology. The 2012 Local Elections in Belgium. in: Patrut, B. and Patrut, M. (ed.) Social media in politics: Case Studies on the Political Power of Social Media Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London Springer. pp. 81-96

Experts as facilitators for the implementation of social media in the library?: a social network approach
Vanwynsberghe, H., Boudry, E., Vanderlinde, R. and Verdegem, P. 2014. Experts as facilitators for the implementation of social media in the library?: a social network approach. Library Hi Tech. 32 (3), pp. 529-545. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-02-2014-0015

Conversations about the elections on Twitter: Towards a structural understanding of Twitter’s relation with the political and the media field
D'heer, E. and Verdegem, P. 2014. Conversations about the elections on Twitter: Towards a structural understanding of Twitter’s relation with the political and the media field. European Journal of Communication. 29 (6), pp. 720-734. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323114544866

The composition and role of convergent technological repertoires in audiovisual media consumption
Courtois, C., De Marez, L. and Verdegem, P. 2014. The composition and role of convergent technological repertoires in audiovisual media consumption. Behaviour & Information Technology. 33 (8), pp. 844-858. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2013.872189

Integrating Social Media in Education
Vanwynsberghe, H. and Verdegem, P. 2013. Integrating Social Media in Education. CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture. 15 (3). https://doi.org/10.7771/1481-4374.2247

'It's the services, stupid': identifying killer applications for next-generation networks
Evens, T., Seys, C., Boudry, E., De Vlieger, L., Verdegem, P. and De Marez, L. 2013. 'It's the services, stupid': identifying killer applications for next-generation networks. Telematics and Informatics. 30 (2), pp. 121-131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2012.03.009

The Triple Articulation of Media Technologies in Audiovisual Media Consumption
Courtois, C., Verdegem, P. and De Marez, L. 2013. The Triple Articulation of Media Technologies in Audiovisual Media Consumption. Television & New Media. 14 (5), pp. 421-439. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527476412439106

Towards a participatory, co-operative and sustainable information society? A critical analysis of Swedish ICT policy discourses
Verdegem, P. and Fuchs, Christian 2013. Towards a participatory, co-operative and sustainable information society? A critical analysis of Swedish ICT policy discourses. Nordicom Review. 34 (2), pp. 3-18. https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2013-0050

De digitale kloof en/in elektronische dienstverlening: een catch-22?
De Caluwe, C., Verdegem, P. and Van Dooren, W. 2012. De digitale kloof en/in elektronische dienstverlening: een catch-22? Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap. 40 (1), pp. 46-70.

E-deliberation 2.0 for smart cities: a critical assessment of two 'idea generation' cases
Mechant, P., Stevens, I., Evens, T. and Verdegem, P. 2012. E-deliberation 2.0 for smart cities: a critical assessment of two 'idea generation' cases. International Journal of Electronic Governance. 5 (1), pp. 82-98. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJEG.2012.047441

Social Media for Digital and Social Inclusion: Challenges for Information Society 2.0 Research & Policies
Verdegem, P. 2011. Social Media for Digital and Social Inclusion: Challenges for Information Society 2.0 Research & Policies. Triple C: Communication, Capitalism & Critique. 9 (1), pp. 28-38.

Rethinking determinants of ICT acceptance: Towards an integrated and comprehensive overview
Verdegem, P. and De Marez, L. 2011. Rethinking determinants of ICT acceptance: Towards an integrated and comprehensive overview. Technovation. 31 (8), pp. 411-423. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2011.02.004

Measuring for Knowledge: A Data-Driven Research Approach for eGovernment
Verdegem, P., Stragier, J. and Verleye, G. 2010. Measuring for Knowledge: A Data-Driven Research Approach for eGovernment. Electronic Journal of e-Government. 8 (2), pp. 227-236.

Balancing Public and Private Value for the Digital Television Era
Evens, T., Verdegem, P. and De Marez, L. 2010. Balancing Public and Private Value for the Digital Television Era. Javnost / The Public. 17 (1), pp. 37-54. https://doi.org/10.1080/13183222.2010.11009025

The analog switch-off in a cable dominated television landscape. Implications for the transition to digital television in Flanders
Verdegem, P., Hauttekeete, L. and De Marez, L. 2009. The analog switch-off in a cable dominated television landscape. Implications for the transition to digital television in Flanders. Communications. 34 (1), pp. 87-101. https://doi.org/10.1515/COMM.2009.006

User-centered E-Government in practice: A comprehensive model for measuring user satisfaction
Verdegem, P. and Verleye, G. 2009. User-centered E-Government in practice: A comprehensive model for measuring user satisfaction. Government Information Quarterly. 26 (3), pp. 487-497. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2009.03.005

Profiling the non-user: Rethinking policy initiatives stimulating ICT acceptance
Verdegem, P. and Verhoest, P. 2009. Profiling the non-user: Rethinking policy initiatives stimulating ICT acceptance. Telecommunications Policy. 33 (10-11), pp. 642-652. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2009.08.009

Permalink - https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/vv6y8/dismantling-ai-capitalism-the-commons-as-an-alternative-to-the-power-concentration-of-big-tech


Share this

Usage statistics

345 total views
134 total downloads
These values cover views and downloads from WestminsterResearch and are for the period from September 2nd 2018, when this repository was created.